Capping-machine.



l. C. PEPPERS.

CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20.1914.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET-l Jerry C. fieppns Q )irr'omvns [TA/E8858 J. C. PEPPERS.

. CAPPING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 20, m4.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOR/VEYS JERRY COATTS PEPPERS, 0F BEAUMONT, TEXAS.

' CAPPING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 20, 1914. SerialNo. 351,935.

cans, and arranged to be capable of use with cans of varying size.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved machine,Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, Fig. 3 is a transversesection of the upright and slide plate taken substantially on the line33 of Fig. 2, looking downward and with the base omitted, and Figs. 4and 5 are sectional views showing the plunger in different posi tions. vg

The presentembodiment of the invention comprises a base plate 1, havingnear one end an upright or standard 2, which is provided with a verticalslot 3, the slot being at approximately the center of the plate andextending from near the top to near the bottom of the standard. A slideplate 4: is arranged on the front face of the standard .or upright overthe slot, and bolts 5 are passed through the slot and throughregistering openings in the plate, and each bolt engages a nut 8. n

The standard or upright is provided on its rear face with a pair ofparallel laterally spaced ribs 7, the said ribs being at opposite sidesof the slot 3, and the ribs are spaced apart a sufficient distance toreceive the nuts 8 of the bolts, and to engage opposite faces of thenuts to prevent rotation of the nuts with respect to the bolts.

- The plate 4 is provided with a laterally extending arm 9, and the armis provided near its outer end with a rectangular opening 10, and withbearings 11 spaced apart vertically from each other and in alinement andat approximately the center of the onening 10. At its inner end theplate land the arm 9 have a pair of upstanding lugs 12, and a lever 13has one end pivoted between the lugs as indicated at 14:. The leverextends forwardly beyond the outer end of the arm 9, and a plunger rod15 is mounted to slide in the bearings 11. .The upper end of the plungerrod is forked and the arms 16 of the fork engage opposite sides of thelever- 13, and are pivoted thereto as indicated at 17.

' Patented Augn31l, Ea.

A-coil spring 18 encircles the plunger rod within the opening 10, thespring bearing at its lower end against the upper end of the lowerbearing 11 and at its upper end against a pm 19, arranged transverselyof the plunger rod. The spring acts normally to press the plunger rodupward, and to hold the lever 13 lifted.

The plate 1 is provided near its frontend and at approximately thecenter thereof with a transverse opening 20, the said opening beingbelow the lever 13. A'bar 21 ismounted to slide in the opening and theupper end of the bar 1s arranged between the lower-'- ends of a pair oflaterally spaced bars 22. The bar 21 1s provided with a plurality ofopenings 23, near its upper end andone of the said openings is adaptedto register with openings in the bars 22 to receive a bolt 24 or thelike, which is. passed through the registering openings to connect thebars together. The bars 22 are provided at their upper ends with seriesof registering openings 25, and the lever 13 is provided with an openingintermediate its ends and adapted to register with a pair of openings inthe bars 22 to receive a bolt 26, for pivotally connecting the bars tothe lover: The lowerend' of the bar 21 engages an opening 27 near thefree end of a treadle or foot plate 28, which is pivoted as indicated at29 at the opposite end from the bar 21 in the notch 30 in the upper endof an arm 31, which extends upwardly from the base plate 32.

The. base plate 32 may be arranged upon the floor beneath the table orbench which supports the plate 1, and offset forwardly with respect tothe plate, so that the operator may have access to the treadle or footplate 28. The lower end of the bar 21 is pivoted in the opening 27', bymeans of a olt 33, and below the bolt the bar is reduced and rounded asshown at 34:. The

is provided for insuring that .the can will be properly positioned Withrespect to the plunger 38 on the lower end of the plunger rod 15'. Theguide or gage consists of two bars 39 and 39, arranged at a right anglewith respectto each other and with the end of one fitting againsttheinner side edge of'the other, and the bars are held in place by pins40. The pins 40 are passed through openings in the bars and intoopenings inthe upper face of the plate, and the barsare so arranged thatwhen the can 37 is placed in contact with the two bars the opening 41 inthe top thereof will be directly below the plunger 38. The plunger iscircular in shape, and a plate spring 42 is arranged transversely of theunder face thereof, the spring being secured to the "plungerv by meansof a set screw 43. The set screw 43 passes through the center of thespring and engages a threaded opening in the plunger. The spring isarc-shaped or curved longitudinally as shown, and is arranged with itsconvex face toward the plunger. .The caps which are designed to closethe cans each consists of a circular body-44 and a marginal angularintegral rib 45, and each rib is provided with a radial flange 46. Thespring 42 is an expansion spring and is of greaterlength than thediameter of the plunger.

When arched however, the free ends of the spring are flush with theperipheral surface of the plunger as shown in Fig. 4. 7 Hencewhen theends are pushed outwardly to cause the spring to take an approximatelyplane form, the ends of the spring will extend beyond the periphery ofthe plunger.

The operation of the -device is as follows:The cans to be capped areplaced on the table 1 in position against the gages or guides 393 9. Thecap is inserted in the opening 41, and the lever '13 is depressed bymeans of the treadle '28. The can is so held by the guides or gages thatwhen the lever is depressed as above mentioned, the ends of the spring42 will engage opposite points of the cover, while the plunger willengage just within the rib 45 as shown in Fig. 4.

A further depression of the lever 13 will force theplunger 38 into thecap or cover, and as the plunger moves into the cap or cover the spring42 will be straightened as shown in Fig. 5, and a portion of the maingin the top of the can, thus locking the terial of the cap or cover willbe pressed outwardly beneath the lower endof the opencap or cover in theopening. The bars 22 are of such length and so arranged with respect tothe lever 13 that their lower ends will engage the plate 1 at each sideof the opening 20 when the-cap is properly placed in the can, that is,when the parts are in the position of Fig. 5. Bychanging the relativeposition of the bars 22 and the lever 13 the device may be adjusted tocans of differopenings as may be desired, and the slide plate 4 maybeadjusted on the upright 2 so that the devlce is adjustable for cans ofany size. 1

It is obvious that instead .of a single sprlng 42 two springs might beused arranged at right angles to each other, and the cap placed withsprings of this character 7 would be more firmly held, since there wouldbe four inserts made by the ends of the sprmgs.

. The improved capping machine is of simple construction'and easilyoperated, and i is very easily adjusted to suit'the can being operatedupon. Inaddition to placing the caps or covers they are securelylockedin position, the expansion spring 42 positively locking'the coversin place. It is obvious that any other desired means might be used foroperating the plunger. By making the plunger 38 removable and havingsprings of different size the device can be adjusted for caps ofdifferent size.

I claim In a capping machine, a plunger adapted to fit within the capfor forcing the cap into place in the can, and anarched expansion springonthe under face of the plunger and of greater length than the diameterof the plunger when straightened and arranged with its convex faceupwardly, and adapted to be straightened when the plunger forces the capinto place in the can to lock the cap

